Why are we fans?

[Rocky Landing]

This might be an overly simplistic, and even puerile thread topic. But, given the passionate, and, at times, bitter tenor of some of the recent threads on this forum, it would seem an appropriate question to pose: Why are we football fans? And, why the Bills?

 

The latter question is probably about the same for every poster on this forum. Geography. Just about every Bills fan alive was born in Upstate New York, or thereabouts. It's an amazing thing. That cannot be said for every team. I have a friend here in L.A. who is a die-hard Titans fan, and I don't believe that jackass has ever even been to Tennessee. People often become fans of NFL teams that they do not have any geographic connection to. But not the Bills. They are ours, and ours alone.

 

The difference between posters, regarding the former question, 'why are we football fans,' has led to some heated, and even insulting exchanges. In my opinion, football is the greatest spectator sport ever devised. It has something for everybody, regardless of how deep you are willing to go. Statistics, drama, entertainment, strategy, etc. Every type of athlete is represented on the field. I don't believe that any other sport can be parsed, analyzed, and interpreted to the depth than football can.

 

But, the question remains: Why are you a football fan? Is it the dedication to your team? Is it the thrill of victory (and the agony of defeat)? Is it the fascination derived from all the variables, statistics, and/or analysis? Is it just for the fun of it? Some combination of the above?

 

Personally, I find it's a great way to get my family to leave me the hell alone for three hours on a Sunday.

Edited July 7, 2014 by Rocky Landing

[Mark Vader]

Short answer: I love the game of football. I think it's the most exciting team sport to watch. It is also the only sport where I will watch a game regardless of who is playing. Pro or college, I will watch it.

 

Just so you know, I was born and raised in California. I have no ties to Buffalo or upstate New York, whatsoever, and I am a Bills fan.

[TheBrownBear]

Pretty simple. I love football and I was born and raised in WNY. Also have always associated with the underdog, and what greater underdog than the Buffalo Bills?

Edited July 7, 2014 by TheBrownBear

[maddenboy]

Why football?: I think its because we have all played it as kids. That means what, when I watch CJ Spiller do something, I can think to myself "I can do that" or "I did that once" or "I used to be able to do that" or "I would have done X instead of Y in that situation."

 

Why the Bills?: The laundry, I guess. There arent really many players in recent memory who seemed to love being Bills.

Aaron Schoebel maybe? They seem to love football, some of them. But I cant say the players make my fandom stronger.

[fansince88]

Football, because it is simply captivating.

Bills, well long story! I was born on Long Island and moved to nny at 5yo. A friend of mine since we were 13 has always been a Giants fan. So naturally I had to root for a different team. He always said the Bills sucked so I picked them. Started watching them pretty regularly in 86. But really started to get to know the players in 88. Thus the screen name. Dont think Ive missed a game since then. even when they are not on tv I listen to wgr. GO BILLS!!!

[extrahammer]

For the record, I'm from Mississippi with no attachments to WNY and became a Bills fan. And I've met others here that became Bills fans too. In fact, I went to speak to a group of students a few months ago and in the front row was a kid with a bright blue and red Bills t-shirt on. I asked him when he became a Bills fan - thinking it was when they last made the playoffs or his dad was or something - and to my surprise he said he became a fan when he saw C.J. play in Buffalo. I asked him if he'd be a fan if C.J. left and he said "Yeah, I'm too in love with the team now."

 

Also, when I travel I see just as many Bills fans as other NFL team fans. Seems to me in airports you don't see as much Dallas, New England stuff, I see a good bit of Pittsburgh and other teams, including the Bills.

 

Moral summary of this rambling: it's never as bad as it seems.

Edited July 7, 2014 by thisiskeith

[ganesh]

Born 10,000 miles and years away from the Buffalo Bills, but landed in the vicinity and became a fan. My attachment to this team started when I stared at the screen watching wide right...that made me sympathize for this team and has been on its bandwagon every since.....Nothing beats the thought of looking at a fresh season with hope./.....Go Bills.

[Harveyj001]

I was born in WNY and became a fan watching the Juice tear through the opposition. With my 29 years in the Navy I have lived and visited many places. With my plethora of Bills stuff and a tatoo I get a lot of comments. I have met many people around the country who are Bills fans that have no association with WNY. Most became fans in the early 90's, but some for longer or shorter for various reasons.

[8-8 Forever?]

This might be an overly simplistic, and even puerile thread topic. But, given the passionate, and, at times, bitter tenor of some of the recent threads on this forum, it would seem an appropriate question to pose: Why are we football fans? And, why the Bills?

 

The latter question is probably about the same for every poster on this forum. Geography. Just about every Bills fan alive was born in Upstate New York, or thereabouts. It's an amazing thing. That cannot be said for every team. I have a friend here in L.A. who is a die-hard Titans fan, and I don't believe that jackass has ever even been to Tennessee. People often become fans of NFL teams that they do not have any geographic connection to. But not the Bills. They are ours, and ours alone.

 

The difference between posters, regarding the former question, 'why are we football fans,' has led to some heated, and even insulting exchanges. In my opinion, football is the greatest spectator sport ever devised. It has something for everybody, regardless of how deep you are willing to go. Statistics, drama, entertainment, strategy, etc. Every type of athlete is represented on the field. I don't believe that any other sport can be parsed, analyzed, and interpreted to the depth than football can.

 

But, the question remains: Why are you a football fan? Is it the dedication to your team? Is it the thrill of victory (and the agony of defeat)? Is it the fascination derived from all the variables, statistics, and/or analysis? Is it just for the fun of it? Some combination of the above?

 

Personally, I find it's a great way to get my family to leave me the hell alone for three hours on a Sunday.

My kids are bills fans and they were not born there and hardly spent any time there. With the exodus of likely the majority of an entire working age generation during the seventies and eighties , and with those marrying and having kids and still being bills fans and now their kids being bills fans, I would guess there are more Bills fans outside of WNY than in WNY. do the math . I did it once and posted the simple analysis and I think I showed at least as many as 1million bills fans who live outside WNY. So, no , they are not yours, they are ours.

[voodoo poonani]

I think it's a bit of everything you said. I grew up in WNY watching the Bills with my family. Playing ball in the backyard with my brothers and friends. I love the strategy and storylines. Being passionate about the Bills I feel the wins and losses more deeply.

 

Other sports, even hockey, don't come close to my passion for football.

[PromoTheRobot]

I grew up in Buffalo. I followed the team since 1966. I went to my first game in 1969 and I get the same feeling entering the stadium every time. I prefer we win but losing doesn't ruin the total experience. Making myself sick over the team seems silly. It's a game.

[Gugny]

I think the NFL did a phenomenal job marketing themselves in the late 70s, when I became a football fan. It seemed that most kids had a "football hero" who we pretended we were when we were playing with a nerf in the yard or the field.

 

Football has always been very social for me; even as a child. It remains very social for me to this day.

 

I think football is easy to love because of the short season. There is no, "oh, well, we'll get 'em next time," in football. Every game is a must-win and the scoreboard watching begins the second the first snap of the first game takes place.

 

I think the players' passion is what makes it easy for a casual fan to enjoy any game.

 

I personally enjoy the strategy of the game, along with the passion. Those two things allow me to enjoy any two teams playing; along with the fact that every game has a major impact in someway on multiple other teams.

 

It's just a great sport.

[FLbills]

I have been a Bills fan since about 85' - 86'. I have never set foot in the state of NY. My fandom started when I was watching football with my pops, He was / is a diehard Steelers fan. I was about 8 years old and Bills and Steelers were playing, I started rooting for the Bills just to have something to talk smack to him about. While watching the game, I realized that I didn't like them just because it was the team playing against the Steelers, but more or less just enjoyed the way they played the game. I didn't fully understand it at that time, but now looking back on it it was just a quiet and efficiently played game. They came in, handled their business, and got the job done.

 

Now my goal is to make it to the Ralph for a home game in December. Living down in Florida does not make that that easiest of feats to accomplish, but the payoff will be tremendous.

[mead107]

Grew up in Saratoga county and most of my friends loved the giants. I wanted to be different so I followed the Bills. Wins always make for a better ride home. No matter what, it is Bills football.

[CodeMonkey]

But, the question remains: Why are you a football fan?

I am not a football fan (anymore). I find the game extremely difficult and tedious to watch in real time with all of the unnecessary delays created solely for TV commercials.

I am still, and expect will always be, a Buffalo Bills fan however. It is something that I can enjoy with my family, including things like training camp where the organization goes out of their way to make it enjoyable for kids of all ages.

Edited July 7, 2014 by CodeMonkey

[QB Bills]

I grew up in Buffalo. I followed the team since 1966. I went to my first game in 1969 and I get the same feeling entering the stadium every time. I prefer we win but losing doesn't ruin the total experience. Making myself sick over the team seems silly. It's a game.

For some of us, its not a choice.

[Thunderstealer]

I think we're fans for the same reason we have certain religious beliefs. The love of our family and their customs. The feeling of belonging to something.

[Rocky Landing]

I am not a football fan (anymore). I find the game extremely difficult and tedious to watch in real time with all of the unnecessary delays created solely for TV commercials.

I am still, and expect will always be, a Buffalo Bills fan however. It is something that I can enjoy with my family, including things like training camp where the organization goes out of their way to make it enjoyable for kids of all ages.

I think a lot of fans are sort of in your boat. At the very least, it can be said of everybody posting on here, in July, that we spend more time parsing the game than we do watching it. I'm not sure which I enjoy more, I think it's 50/50. But, that is the amazing thing about football. Does anyone analyze any other sport to the extent that football gets analyzed? With the exception of highlights, does anyone re-watch a baseball game? I can't think of another sport where what is happening on the field at a given time can be so profoundly affected by what had happened ten plays ago. And, the deeper I get into understanding the sport, the more I realize I know jack squat.

[Kirby Jackson]

I started a thread like this a few months back and this was my story:

 

In lieu of all of the depressing topics on here right now let's have a place to share something positive. Obviously this team is important to all of us or we wouldn't be here. I thought that it may be cool for everyone to tell a brief story on how they became the fans that they are today.

 

When I was a kid (maybe 7ish) my dad and some friends had a group of 8 tickets in section H-2. 3 of the tickets belonged to my dad. We would go each week at about 9:30AM and park at the Twin Oaks Motel on Southwestern. We would grill out right under the sign and my brother (5ish) and I would throw the football around for hours while the pregame show played through the open trunk.

 

At about 12:15 we would begin the journey into the stadium; my brother and I would be loaded with beers to sneak in because they stopped serving them at halftime. The adults would have them as well but as time went on they learned that we were probably the best transport method. The 9 of us (8 tickets) would form a single file line and the first guy in line would point to the 9th guy and say "the guy in the back has the tickets." While the 9th guy waved my brother and I would make it through the turnstile on 1 turn and head right to H-2. We would unload the beers under the seats and retreat to the seat that we shared -seat 6.

 

This went on every game for about 5 years until we were too big to share. I shared that seat for a couple of AFC championships and had my own for the comeback and the KC championship game. These moments were not only some of the greatest in Bills history but some of the best that I have had with my brother and dad. We still attend games together to this day and cherish it every time.

Edited July 7, 2014 by Kirby Jackson

[Rocky Landing]

I started a thread like this a few months back and this was my story:

 

In lieu of all of the depressing topics on here right now let's have a place to share something positive. Obviously this team is important to all of us or we wouldn't be here. I thought that it may be cool for everyone to tell a brief story on how they became the fans that they are today.

 

When I was a kid (maybe 7ish) my dad and some friends had a group of 8 tickets in section H-2. 3 of the tickets belonged to my dad. We would go each week at about 9:30AM and park at the Twin Oaks Motel on Southwestern. We would grill out right under the sign and my brother (5ish) and I would throw the football around for hours while the pregame show played through the open trunk.

 

At about 12:15 we would begin the journey into the stadium; my brother and I would be loaded with beers to sneak in because they stopped serving them at halftime. The adults would have them as well but as time went on they learned that we were probably the best transport method. The 9 of us (8 tickets) would form a single file line and the first guy in line would point to the 9th guy and say "the guy in the back has the tickets." While the 9th guy waved my brother and I would make it through the turnstile on 1 turn and head right to H-2. We would unload the beers under the seats and retreat to the seat that we shared -seat 6.

 

This went on every game for about 5 years until we were too big to share. I shared that seat for a couple of AFC championships and had my own for the comeback and the KC championship game. These moments were not only some of the greatest in Bills history but some of the best that I have had with my brother and dad. We still attend games together to this day and cherish it every time.

Man, it was a freer country back then, wasn't it? Some of the younger posters on here might read the story about kids sneaking in beers and assume that it was bad parenting, but it was just different back then. I remember once, after one of my father's ski races at Bristol Mountain, I was operating the keg, and serving all the adults beers during the after-party and awards ceremony. I was six. Everyone thought it was cute! I can't imagine what would happen today, if a six-year-old were doing that.